Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put

The men's shot put event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Twenty-four athletes from 15 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The competition was held on 3 August. The final was won by American Wilbur Thompson. Thompson's compatriots, Jim Delaney and Jim Fuchs took 2nd and 3rd place.[2] It was the ninth time that an American had won the event, and the fifth time that the Americans had swept the medals.

Men's shot put
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Olympic Stadium (during opening ceremony)
VenueWembley Stadium
Dates3 August (qualifying and final)
Competitors24 from 15 nations
Winning distance17.12 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Wilbur Thompson
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Jim Delaney
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jim Fuchs
 United States
← 1936
1952 →
Video on YouTube Official Video
@ 37:50

Background

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This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The American team was strong; Charles Fonville, who had been the "best putter early in the year" and had set the world record in April, was unable to even make the three-man roster. Jim Delaney won the U.S. trials, with Wilbur Thompson the runner-up.[1]

Canada, Iceland, Pakistan, and Peru each made their debut in the men's shot put. The United States appeared for the 11th time, the only nation to have competed in all Olympic shot put competitions to date.

Competition format

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The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 14.60 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top six competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.[1][3]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Charlie Fonville (USA) 17.68 Lawrence, United States 17 April 1948
Olympic record   Hans Woellke (GER) 16.20 Berlin, Germany 2 August 1936

Jim Fuchs broke the Olympic record with his first throw of the final, at 16.32 metres. Wilbur Thompson, later in the round, threw 16.47 metres to break the new record. In the second throw of the final, Jim Delaney achieved a new record at 16.68 metres. Later in the round, Thompson again broke this new record, putting the shot 17.12 metres. That would hold as the record through the rest of the competition. In all, the three men had 10 throws greater than the old Olympic record: all five of Thompson's legal throws, three of Fuchs's throws, and two of Delaney's. USA took a sweep of the medals.

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Tuesday 3 August 1948 11:00
16:00
Qualifying
Final

Results

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Qualifying round

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Qual. rule: qualification standard 14.60m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank Athlete Nation Distance Notes
1 Jim Fuchs   United States 15.870 Q
2 Wilbur Thompson   United States 15.090 Q
3 Jim Delaney   United States 14.970 Q
4 Yrjö Lehtilä   Finland 14.850 Q
5 John Giles   Great Britain 14.795 Q
6 Jaakko Jouppila   Finland 14.720 Q
7 Mieczysław Łomowski   Poland 14.700 Q
Gösta Arvidsson   Sweden 14.700 Q
9 Konstantinos Giataganas   Greece 14.630 Q
10 Čestmír Kalina   Czechoslovakia 14.540 q
11 Sigfús Sigurðsson   Iceland 14.480 q
12 Witold Gerutto   Poland 14.450 q
13 Willy Senn   Switzerland 14.450
14 Roland Nilsson   Sweden 14.360
15 Eric Coy   Canada 14.150
16 David Guiney   Ireland 14.010
17 Vilhjálmur Vilmundarson   Iceland 13.990
18 Roger Verhaes   Belgium 13.540
19 Harold Moody   Great Britain 13.400
20–24 Emilio Malchiodi   Argentina Unknown
Juan Kanhert   Argentina Unknown
Lionelo Patiño   Peru Unknown
Nazar Muhammad Khan Malik   Pakistan Unknown
Ahmed Zahur Khan   Pakistan Unknown
Aad de Bruyn   Netherlands DNS
Eduardo Julve   Peru DNS
François Lapicque   France DNS
K. Meraklis   Greece DNS
Leo Roininen   Canada DNS
José Luis Torres   Spain DNS

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
  Wilbur Thompson   United States 16.47 OR 17.12 OR 16.97 16.67 16.80 X 17.12 OR
  Jim Delaney   United States 16.14 16.68 OR 15.88 16.03 16.03 16.28 16.68
  Jim Fuchs   United States 16.32 OR 16.42 15.60 15.56 14.82 16.28 16.42
4 Mieczysław Łomowski   Poland Unknown 15.43
5 Gösta Arvidsson   Sweden Unknown 15.37
6 Yrjö Lehtilä   Finland Unknown 15.05
7 Jaakko Jouppila   Finland Unknown 14.59
8 Čestmír Kalina   Czechoslovakia Unknown 14.55
9 Konstantinos Giataganas   Greece Unknown 14.54
10 Witold Gerutto   Poland Unknown 14.37
11 John Giles   Great Britain Unknown 13.73
12 Sigfús Sigurðsson   Iceland Unknown 13.66

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Shot Put, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Shot Put". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 270.
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